Fall Farm & Home

PRAIRIE GROVE — When it comes to decorating inexpensively for the fall season, look to your own backyard, say owners of local shops.

Amy Hyler with The Back Porch in Prairie Grove said something as simple as branches from boxwoods can be clipped to provide greenery and then add color to them. Hedge apples, horse apples or pine cones can be picked up off the ground and placed in bowls or vases, she added.

Another idea is put sticks together as a bundle, place those in a window box or another container and add a pumpkin to it, she said.

“It can be as simple as that,” Hyler said.

Trends for the fall include buffalo checks and white pumpkins.

“You don’t have to do just orange and yellow,” Hyler said. “You can do any color you want and make it look like fall.”

Tammy Swaffar with Flowers-N-Friends, also in Prairie Grove, said free items for decorating can include oak branches with dried out leaves, bare birch branches, pine branches and pine cones.

Swaffar said another idea is to pull down a vine from a tree and twirl it to around to make a wreath.

“You can make a wreath and put a bow on it or make a small wreath and place a candle inside it for a centerpiece,” Swaffar said.

“Lots of people have stuff at home they can use,” Swaffar said. “You just want to look around.”

Old metal buckets can be used for fall flowers or branches or other items from a backyard. A piece of old barnwood can be painted and the words “Happy Fall, Ya’ll” written on it, she said.

Of course, mums are the gold standard for fall decorating but Swaffar said people should not just think of them as a one-time decorating item. Mums are a perennial and can be planted and will bloom the following year.

Swaffar said she uses mums at her own home. She has a fern at her front door, and she said she surrounded it with mums for a fall look.

In her store, lanterns are used for all seasons. She said she also uses lots of burlap and rustic items when it comes to making pieces for customers to purchase.

Leah Williamson with Onion Creek in Farmington said she always starts with a wreath on the front door.

“Pumpkins are great but they have to be tossed out at the end of the season,” Williamson said. “A wreath — it will last year after year.”

Williamson said a house can be decorated for the fall season by placing a few items in strategic places, such as a wreath on the front door, a table runner and new kitchen towels placed out.

Other ideas are to bring in the fall through a new candle or defuser. She said people also can be ready for the holidays with a spiced cider and a new dip.

“It’s simple and easy,” Williamson said. “If you put in a few things, like a door wreath, table runner, light up a fall candle and if you want to sip on cider or do a great dip, you’re ready for fall.”

Metal buckets can be used to make fall decorations for the home. This item was created by Amy Hyler at The Back Porch in Prairie Grove but local decorators say people can look in their own backyards for items to make their own, inexpensive designs.

PHOTOS BY LYNN KUTTER ENTERPRISE-LEADER Leah Williamson with Onion Creek Home in Farmington recommends any decorations start with the front door. A fall wreath is one way to decorate the front door, she said.